Thursday, June 20, 2013

Life On The Road

We've been in the U.S. for five weeks now, and have been "on the road" pretty much the whole time. We have spent a week at a time in a few different places, interspersed with one or two nights here and there. It is the nature of "home ministries" (or "furlough" for us old-timers who still have a hard time remembering to call it home ministries).

That said, we head to Michigan on Saturday where we'll stay put (more or less) for a whole month. Each weekend we'll be traveling to a different church, but weekdays will find us home in Jonesville. As much as I've enjoyed the time with friends and family in Georgia and Indiana over the past month -- and I've enjoyed it a LOT -- I do look forward to getting settled.

Settled being a relative term, of course.

As I've mentioned before, we planned this furlough home ministries differently, in that we set aside blocks of travel time rather than being constantly on the go. We learned that for our own mental and physical health, we do better if we have some down times in the midst of ALL THE TRAVELING.

I'm most looking forward to having the time and space to start working on a very special baby quilt ;) I finally settled on a design, and have started gathering fabrics. Next I need to graph out my design to size so I can make the templates. Kyle and Tina won't find out whether it's a boy or girl for a few more months, so the quilt will have a gender-neutral color palette: gray and aqua with touches of lime green and magenta. Even though the parents-to-be know I'm making a quilt, I want the design to
be a surprise so there won't be any sneak peaks here on the blog (except
maybe the fabric).

I'm also mulling over the design for a wall quilt, but decided to stay focused on the crib quilt for now.

And I'm looking forward to spending time with my Michigan buddies. Summer is a great time to be here, because even though everyone is busy, schedules aren't quite as full as they tend to be during the school year. We're ready for sitting on porches or out on decks, talking and laughing and catching up. Since we are only here for a few months every couple of years, this is a luxury for us.

Luxury used to be associated solely with the things money can buy. But recently I read a great post on the topic, and I really like what Lauren had to say about it:

These days, luxury seems to be more about small details and comfort and quality and time. The phrase "the luxury of time" has been around a while so we have
always put value on that but I think the idea that "luxury" can be
simple and meaningful has really taken a hold of our society. I'm
not sure the definition of luxury includes "little things that make life
feel special" but it really does seem like that's what it's becoming,
or at least how I've started to view it: clean sheets on a newly made
bed, open windows, fresh flowers on the nightstand, time with the people
you love, an unexpected note on nice paper, space, al fresco dining, a
place for everything, reading leisurely, an exceptionally comfortable
sofa, a mudroom, a fire in the fireplace, a simple yet beautiful meal,
candlelight, an organized closet, time, time & more time.

Amen! It truly is the small things that often bring the greatest pleasure. And for us, "time with the people you love" would be right at the top of the list.